Literacy “Geleza” is a slang word meaning “to study” or “to learn” and “4 life” signifies both the goal and impact of acquiring knowledge throughout one’s life journey. “Learn for life” is then the core message for promoting literacy as strategic factor in tackling the various socio-economic ills faced by South Africans. The Geleza4Life A! Literacy Sector recognizes that education is multi-faceted and requires a dynamic approach, from early childhood, to high school and tertiary level, as well as providing opportunities for self-development.

Nomfundo Mkhaba, a 2017 Activator hosted her own hackathon in KZN on the 16th of September with the intention of tackling the lack of parental involvement in their children’s’ schooling.

ACTIVATE! Change Drivers realises that the quest for total liberation can be achieved through a focus on knowledge and skills training, this leads to economic prosperity and quality of life for all.

Mzwandile Ignatius Msimanga

“We all agree that knowledge power, as such the quest for equity and total liberation ought to begin with how knowledge acquired, transferred and is valued by different societies. Therefore, as the A! Literacy sector we aim to impact how our people access and engage with information in order for them to be empowered as functional literate citizens.”

Gauteng 2013 Activator and A! Literacy Sector Coordinator We found that the main reason for young

people do not read is that the love for reading was not developed at home, this means even when young people have access to books they are not inclined to read for pleasure. Furthermore, the context/language used in most books is not relevant to the South African audience as such young people do not see themselves in literature and as result they are not interested. Therefore, it was apparent that when people have a negative attitude towards reading they will be less inclined to engage with policy documents and other written material that is aimed at empowering them.

“The statistics say 5% of parents read to their children in SA, does this recognise the African oral tradition because most of the African folklore stories are not in written form, and as such I would argue that my grandmother “read” to me every day.” – Tony Matipa, activator since 2012.

HackathonA U G U S T

03 JOHANNESBURG 06Activators

On the 13th of August 2017 we hosted the Hacking Literacy Braai in Soweto with 29 Activators from all 9 provinces with the understanding that reading is an exercise that has proven to broaden the sphere and the frame of reference of the mind, it opens up a person to a world of imagination and critical reasoning which contributes to how a person’s life is shaped. With that reason borne in mind, this hackathon strived to promote excellence within the literacy sector and was an opportunity to impact change through best practice sharing.

Hacking Literacy Braai in Soweto

A U G U S T

1329Activators

Impact: september

KWazulu-natal

16

“Sustainable initiatives do not only fundraise but they raise people. The people help to make and grow the funds” – Tessa Dooms

WhatsApp Webinar: WhatsApp webinars are an innovative platform that ACTIVATE! Has pioneered in order to virtually link Activators with Thought Leaders. On the 4th of September we hosted a webinar with Tessa Dooms, a director at youth think tank Youthlab ZA and a Commissioner at the National Planning Commission responsible for youth. This session had a theme of “Creating Sustainable impact” with the intention to enable Activators to engage with a Thought Leader on pertinent issues affecting the sustainability aspect of their initiatives.

september

04youth lab

2 hourwebinar 75

Activators

Impact: Activators Pearl Sekwati (2012) and Lekau Johannes Phoshoko (2016) were invited to NDP 2030 working session with the then Deputy Minister in the Presidency Mr. Buti Manamela and both activators are currently serving in the provincial Presidential Working Group in Agriculture in Limpopo.

Free State Department of Arts and Culture, Fundza Literature Trust, Nali Bali, Daveyton Book Club, Walk Fresh, Ekurhuleni Municipality, Daveyton Express, EKFM 103.6, Ubuciko Bomlomo Infotainment, Langeni College, Welkom Library, Lindelani Youth Forum, Ntuzuma library, iCamagu Cultural Village, Gugu Dlamini foundation, and Africa Unite.

Partners:

Two Activate authors were given a platform at the Literature Exchange. This gave them an opportunity to market their books to potential buyers. 250 Books were donated by the Daveyton Book and Nali Bali, these books will form part of donations already received from Tomorrow Trust and Pan MacMillan of 580 Books which will be distributed to activators running reading clubs with the activate network.

Impact:

Geleza4Life

Literature ExchangeIn September the aim was to celebrate the UNESCO 50th anniversary of the International Literacy Day in highlighting the importance of literacy and to showcase initiatives by Activators working in the literacy sector. As such we hosted 5 Activate Exchanges through a Literature Exchange, on the 22nd of September with the objective of having a books exchange and giving a platform to activator authors to promote their books.

september

225 Literature exchachanges

"When an old man dies, a library burns to the ground, this is an old African proverb that depicts how we should value and engage with our elders as they might not have published books but they are well informed, particularly when it comes to our culture and heritage” – Activator Tebogo Motlana

200attendees

5 provinces

KZN (Ntuzuma), GP (Daveyton), EC (Mqanduli), WP (Cape Town) and FS (Welkom).

830 Books donated

The New Dawn Foundation had the

"HUGS FOR DONATION" campaign on 01 April at Sunny

Park Mall in Sunnyside, Gauteng.

Activators volunteered by offering their hugs

for R2.00 to raise funds for an Annual Spelling

Spark.

A! Impact Literacy Summit 24 - 26 November in Johannesburg.

30 A! Literacy Ambassadors (16

Female and 14 Male) from 8 provinces, western cape was the only province not represented. The aim of the summit was to build capacity for activators working within the literacy sector and for them to form synergies to better collaborate. The A! Impact Literacy Summit had the Inspiration

Session, The Theory to Practice Session and the Project Planning

Session.

Activator Lisa Silwana hosted a road show on the 09 May in

Dimbaza Location- Eastern Cape at the Mosis Stwebe Hall at 10 am.

Help-A-Student an initiative founded by a group of young

people under the mentorship of the Department of Social

Development will host a road show that seeks to help Grade 12

pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds who cannot afford to

finance their university studies

Round 3 of the A! Engagements in 2 provinces!! Port Elizabeth

03 June, 10am-2pm, Shisa African Restaurant at Port Elizabeth Harbour and in

Mpumalanga 03 June, 10am-2pm, Communal Hill

Church, Nelspruit.

BooksDirect Launch: The project was launched on the 23rd of

August 2017 and to date about 17 books have been submitted

by activator authors to be included on the BooksDirect catalogue. Furthermore, 8

Activators have taken up the opportunity to be

community-based book entrepreneurs.

Eleven Activators walked more than 600 kilometres from

Pretoria to Durban to raise funds and awareness for disabled

people's education. The team left Pretoria on the 16th of

August and arrived in Durban on the 30th of August. They had

hope to have raise R1.5 million from the epic walk.

Kwandile Mhlaba Sikhosana hosted an Abor Day on the 7th

September to celebrate the Daveyton Books Club’s success in planting 140 fruit trees in 35 school in Ekurhuleni. The fruit

trees were for fruit security and 35 books were donated to the

35 schools.The event was hosted at the OR Tambo

Cultural Precinct in Wattvile, Benoni.

Activator Asavela Peko started a blog

entitled “Our Stories of Hope” where he shares stories from students, activist,

community leaders or an ordinary people with a story of hope that is worth telling

5 Vaal Activators in collaboration with Sebokeng hospital hosted a

Reading is Healing program focused on equipping patients with some brain power as activators take it upon themselves to dedicate the 20th of October 2017 to reading

books for young Sebokeng Hospital patients. This was to make sure that

those who are hospitalized never miss out on an opportunity to read

and revitalize their minds.

#SOTY2017 (State of the Youth)

campaign aimed at highlighting key youth issues that

need to be brought into consideration before SONA2017

(State of the Nation Address).

#FeesMustFall

Highlights from A! Literacy Sector Events

from jan to NOV 2017

Footprint

"Illiteracy is a condition that denies people opportunity" - UNESCO, 2010

Activator Musawenkosi S Nene ran a schools

shoes donation campaign in KZN. They

were asking matriculants to donate their used school shoes to other underprivileged

students. The school shoes collecting day was on the 27th of November

2017.